By Joe Garvey

国产伦理鈥檚 is introducing a program this month that will utilize LEGOs to help improve the social communication skills of children diagnosed with autism.

The Tidewater Scottish Rite LEGO Social Skill Group will meet twice a week and will run from June 20 through July 20 at the Lions Child Study Center.

鈥淚 think, as therapists, we鈥檙e trying to change the way the world works to be more accepting of people with different neurotypes,鈥 said Rachel Genrich, a lecturer in the Department of Communication Disorders and Special Education who is leading the effort. 鈥淏ut we also have to function in the world as it is now.鈥

In its inaugural year, the program will be for 7- to 9-year-olds with 鈥渓ow-support needs,鈥 Genrich said.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a prime age range for interest in LEGOs,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e want them to be engaging in natural communication exchanges during something that鈥檚 inherently meaningful for them. There鈥檚 also going to be lots of opportunities for problem-solving.鈥

Women at table with LEGOs
The Tidewater Scottish Rite LEGO Social Skill Group will be conducted this summer at the Lions Child Study Center. Rachel Genrich, second from left,聽a lecturer in the Department of Communication Disorders and Special Education and the architect of the program, is shown with聽master鈥檚 student clinicians聽Julia Bailey, Allyson Maroyka, Robin Drees and聽Ashley Blair. Photo Chuck Thomas/国产伦理

Genrich said this program will consist of two primary activities.

At the start of the day, the children will do an activity from the social thinking curriculum. That could consist of taking a 鈥渇ield trip鈥 around the building and identifying what they encounter, or it could be craft-based.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about building social awareness and perspective-taking 鈥 figuring out what is a situation and what would be an appropriate way to respond in that situation, picking up on those context clues,鈥 Genrich said.

Activities using the curriculum will come in the latter part of the day.

The children will work as a group and take on different roles throughout the five-week program. A child might be the 鈥渆ngineer鈥 in charge of a building plan on one day and the 鈥渂uilder鈥 on another day.

鈥淚 like the LEGO Education sets because there are more opportunities for problem-solving and flexibility versus just following the instructions to build something specified,鈥 Genrich said. 鈥淪o they鈥檙e going to have to collaborate and compromise to come up with some kind of modification. That鈥檚 going to provide them a lot of opportunities to resolve conflict.鈥

Four first-year master鈥檚 student clinicians will help facilitate communication and problem-solving, Genrich said.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e not in there to step in and solve a problem for them but really to guide them to the answer and just to encourage those kinds of connections,鈥 she explained. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not trying to have the students communicate in a way that鈥檚 inauthentic to them.

鈥淎utistic people communicate in a different way. We鈥檙e not going to be mandating eye contact or saying you have to have a certain number of follow-up questions or anything like that. It鈥檚 really about finding a way that works for them and helping them to pick up on all those social cues.鈥

The Tidewater Scottish Rite Speech & Language Foundation Inc. is providing funding to help offset the cost of the program for parents. The Scottish Rite鈥檚 association with 国产伦理 dates back to 1989. Since then, the foundation has provided roughly $1.75 million for the Communication Sciences and Disorders Program.

Jack Goodwin, one of the foundation鈥檚 directors, noted that speech and language disorders affect approximately 6 million children in the United States. The Scottish Rite supports RiteCare speech and language clinics all over the U.S., including the one at 国产伦理.

鈥淔or us, it鈥檚 a very special philanthropy,鈥 Goodwin said. 鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 been extraordinarily heart-warming to go to 国产伦理 and see the success stories. It鈥檚 just hard to describe what makes you feel more warm-hearted than to hear a child talk for the first time 鈥 or to see the parent who hears a child speak for the first time.

鈥淭his is what we do, and it makes me so proud to be a part of that.鈥

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